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Game Music, Reviews

A Taste of Tenpei Sato: Disgaea Custom Soundtrack (Review)

May 10, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) has been very generous to their fans when it comes to soundtrack pack-ins and pre-order bonuses for their games. The Disgaea franchises isn’t any different, as there are countless promotional album releases and official releases from the series that I recommend checking out. Today, however, we’re taking a look at the Disgaea Custom Soundtrack, a compilation disc of music from Disgaea 1, 2, and 3 that was given out to those who pre-ordered the Disgaea 3 back in 2008.

Resident NIS composer Tenpei Sato is of course responsible for the music here. I’m a huge fan of his work (we recently reviewed the Phantom Brave and Prinny soundtracks), and his quirky tracks from Disgaea are right in line with those releases. More and more I’m starting to draw parallels in my brain between Sato and Noriyuki Iwadare of all people given that both composers rely on lots of synthesized sounds that lend a distinct “gamey” quality to their scores. Well, let’s dig in!

Hit the jump for our review of the Disagaea Custom Soundtrack! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Square Enix at its Best: NieR Gestalt & Replicant Soundtrack (Review)

April 26, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 15 Comments Share this

While Square Enix’s NieR Gestalt will be out in the United States this week (simply titled NieR), I admit I haven’t been following it until now. The two versions of the game (Gestalt on the Xbox 360 and Replicant on the PlayStation 3) are essentially the same game with a protagonist swap in the Gestalt version to appeal to a Western audience, as it will be the only version to come to the United States.

This strange release strategy along with the fact that I haven’t been reading much about the game has created somewhat of a shroud of mystery around the game in my mind. This sense of something new and foreign is even further enhanced by the fact that the score was handled by a team of ex-Namco composers headed by Keiichi Okabe under the studio name of MoNACA along with Takafumi Nishimura from Cavia rather than Square Enix’s internal audio team.

Get ready for something new and completely different from a Square Enix soundtrack. Hit the jump for our review of the NieR Gestalt & Replicant Original Soundtrack, and get ready for something good! (more…)
Game Music, Japanese, Reviews

Gather Around For Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories (Review)

April 23, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Gather Around For Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories (Review) Share this

Well, it’s finally here. We’ve been hearing about Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories for what feels like ages now, and it finally hit the global iTunes store last month. We’ve looked at many of the pre-release singles that Dog Ear Records put out last year to generate interest in the album, and while all four of those tracks appear on the album and were quite good, there are actually some more surprises and, in my opinion, even better tracks found on the album.

Uematsu covers a variety of styles, from pop ballad to synth rock, jazz, and traditional Japanese, but each is viewed through the lens of children’s music. Every track works in cheery vocals by CHiCO, which I know not everyone appreciates based on the response to the iTunes singles, but trust me, her versatility on this album will surely provide something that will catch your ear.

So, how does Uematsu’s latest solo album compare to his last? Find out in our review after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Moonlight Tracks: A Quiet Voice in the Wind (Review)

March 24, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Well, Fragile Dreams is finally out in the United States. When Namco Bandai released the game in Japan, I never thought I’d see it make its way over here, but we have XSEED to thank once again for taking a risk with this beautiful title. Last month we mentioned that XSEED was also bringing over the Moonlight Tracks pre-order bonus CD, which surprised me even further. While you can be entirely unfun along with Patrick and note that the full 2-disc soundtrack is available from TEAM Entertainment in Japan, I still appreciate these bonuses, and hope XSEED continues spoiling their fans.

So, what is Moonlight Tracks, anyway? The pre-order disc actually contains 12 songs from the game, including two vocal themes. The music is rather varied, offering a wide selection of what Fragile Dreams has to offer. The score, composed entirely by Riei Saito, is mainly atmospheric orchestral and piano music, and sounds simply great. Hopefully you picked up the CD when you picked up the game!

Find out what the disc has to offer in our review after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

It’s Not the Phantom Brave Wii Soundtrack, But It’ll Do: PS2 Phantom Brave CD (Review)

August 16, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

To celebrate this week’s release of Phantom Brave on the Wii, we thought we’d check out the game’s music, as NIS Japan was generous enough to include a promotional “Tenpei Sato Selection” disc in Japan. While we couldn’t get our hands on this CD in particular, we have the next best (probably even better) thing: the PlayStation 2 Phantom Brave Bonus Sound Track disc, which features 15 tracks compared to the Wii’s 10.

So what’s here? Well, super happy upbeat stuff, just like we heard on Prinny. There’s a pretty wide range of styles featured, but they’re all happy, and some are even amazingly catchy. All in all, it’s a pretty sweet deal given that the official soundtrack never got a full release outside of the collector’s edition of the game.

Read our full review of the Phantom Brave Bonus Sound Track after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Dale Mixes His Own Love Potion for Fans of Rhythm Heaven

May 14, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Dale Mixes His Own Love Potion for Fans of Rhythm Heaven Share this

I always knew that Dale was talented, but somehow it escaped me that he was such a great singer. Maybe this is due to the fact that I’ve heard Dale at karaoke a couple times, and was never overly impressed. In his defense, though, he did have a few drinks in him on those occasions.

Well, fans of Rhythm Heaven should be pleased that he’s decided to apply his musical talents to the “Love Lab” track from the game, complete with a new arrangement and lyrics written by Dale himself. The original piece was created by Japanese producer, Tsunku, and featured doo’s and wah’s instead of proper lyrics, but after hearing this arrangement, I can’t imagine the piece sounding any other way. The arrangement was originally posted to Destructoid, with visuals created by Dtoid writer Jonathan Holmes, so I highly recommend checking it out.

Were you a fan of the original “Love Lab” game in Rhythm Heaven? Do you think Dale North’s arrangement and vocals add anything to the piece?

[via Destructoid]